---
title: "Getting Started"
description: "Get started with the Context7 TypeScript SDK"
---

# Getting Started

`@upstash/context7-sdk` is a TypeScript SDK for Context7, enabling easier access to library documentation with full type coverage.

Using `@upstash/context7-sdk` you can:

- Search across available libraries
- Retrieve code documentation with contextual examples
- Fetch informational documentation and guides
- Access library metadata and versioning information
- Filter documentation by topic and pagination

You can find the Github Repository [here](https://github.com/upstash/context7/tree/master/packages/sdk).

## Install

<CodeGroup>
  ```shell npm
  npm install @upstash/context7-sdk
  ```

```shell pnpm
pnpm add @upstash/context7-sdk
```

```shell yarn
yarn add @upstash/context7-sdk
```

```shell bun
bun add @upstash/context7-sdk
```

</CodeGroup>

## Usage

### Initializing the Client

To use the Context7 SDK, you need an API key. You can get your API key from the [Context7 Dashboard](https://context7.com/dashboard).

#### Using environment variables

The SDK automatically reads from environment variables if no API key is provided in the config:

```bash
CONTEXT7_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
```

When an environment variable is set, you can initialize the client without any parameters:

```typescript
import { Context7 } from "@upstash/context7-sdk";

const client = new Context7();
```

#### Using a configuration object

If you prefer to pass configuration in code, the constructor accepts a config object containing the apiKey value. This could be useful if your application needs to interact with multiple projects, each with a different configuration.

```typescript
import { Context7 } from "@upstash/context7-sdk";

const client = new Context7({
  apiKey: <CONTEXT7_API_KEY>,
});
```

<Note>
  The SDK checks for API keys in this order: 1. `config.apiKey` (if provided) 2.
  `process.env.CONTEXT7_API_KEY`
</Note>

## Quick Start Example

```typescript
import { Context7 } from "@upstash/context7-sdk";

const client = new Context7();

const searchResponse = await client.searchLibrary("react");
console.log(`Found ${searchResponse.results.length} libraries`);

// Get code documentation (JSON is the default format)
const codeDocs = await client.getDocs("/facebook/react", {
  mode: "code",
  limit: 5,
});

console.log(`Retrieved ${codeDocs.snippets.length} code snippets`);
console.log(`Total tokens: ${codeDocs.totalTokens}`);

// Get info documentation as text
const textDocs = await client.getDocs("/facebook/react", {
  mode: "info",
  format: "txt",
  limit: 3,
});

console.log(textDocs.content);
```

## Error Handling

The SDK throws `Context7Error` for API errors:

```typescript
import { Context7, Context7Error } from "@upstash/context7-sdk";

const client = new Context7({
  apiKey: process.env.CONTEXT7_API_KEY!,
});

try {
  const docs = await client.getDocs("/invalid/library", {
    mode: "code",
    format: "txt",
  });
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof Context7Error) {
    console.error("Context7 API Error:", error.message);
  } else {
    console.error("Unexpected error:", error);
  }
}
```

## Next Steps

Explore the SDK commands:

- [Search Library](/sdks/ts/commands/search-library) - Search for libraries
- [Get Docs](/sdks/ts/commands/get-docs) - Retrieve library documentation
